The present invention relates to a physical training machine with attitude adjustment, i.e. a physical training machine whose attitude can be varied according to the anthropometric characteristics of the user and/or to the exercises the user is to perform on the machine.
For the execution of physical training activities such as, for instance, physical fitness exercises of various kinds, in gymnasiums, in physical rehabilitation centers and in similar structures, implements of the traditional kind, such as bars and dumb-bells, have been integrated by more physical fitness machines that are more complex and correlated to their use.
The latter comprise a basic frame whereto are associated means for imparting a force by the user, such as a bar or handles or levers, connected to a load which provides a resistance to the imparted force.
The user is positioned on a seat or a support (for instance a bench, a saddle or other supports) and from this position he/she performs a series of exercises aimed at the type of sporting or rehabilitative activities carried out.
Currently the seat can be adjusted, for instance in height, by the user to modify suitably the distances between seat and bar or handles. Such adjustment is essentially manual and it needs to be performed each time in correspondence with a change of exercise or with a change of user.
This characteristic can considerably impact on the beneficial effects of the exercises in that, to obtain a correct execution, it is necessary adequately to position the seat (or other similarly adjustable parts of the machine, such as the levers) according to the anthropometric measures of the subject. For this reason it may be necessary for an instructor to follow step by step the various phases of a training session to explain to the user how to maintain a correct posture during the execution of the exercises. This also holds in case of execution, by the same user, of different exercises with the same machine.
Moreover, the operation of manually adjusting the seat or other parts of the physical fitness machine may be found annoying, especially if one considers that gymnasium activities generally present a recreational and entertainment character.
In some physical fitness machines such as, for instance, the machines known in the technical jargon of the sector as vertical, chest-triceps-shoulder-press, pectoral machine, pullover, and others, an activating device, usually a pedal, able to arm the machine, is provided.
In other words, such machines comprise an implement portion, provided with bars, dumb-bells, or similar means for imparting a force, connected to a mass defining the resistance offered by the machine. The user's interaction with the implement portion, i.e. the user's gripping such means, is subordinated to the activation of the aforesaid pedal device which brings, thanks to the force imparted by the user on the pedal itself, the implement portion from a waiting position to an exercise position, wherein the user can grip the dumb-bell, the handles or the other similar means.
A drawback of machines comprising this type of pedal device relates to the fact that such device is essentially set fixedly, on a standard position essentially corresponding to a user of "average" height; in practice, regardless of the user's height, the pedal device is set in the same way: this can cause inappropriate movements by the persons who do not fall within the dimensional characteristics for which the device is designed. In any case, regardless of the user's height, it is possible for the athlete's approach to the machine to be found uncomfortable due to the impossibility of performing the aforesaid adjustments.